2003 Lincoln Ls Base Sedan 4-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

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2018 Lincoln Navigator Review | 900 miles in mid-century opulence

PORTLAND, Ore. — Driving the 2019 Lincoln Navigator on my usual 80-mile evaluation route just wouldn't be sufficient. The quick jaunt through downtown Portland and out into wooded mountain roads couldn't possibly do justice to a vehicle intended for the literal long haul. All those seats; all that cargo space; all that comfort and opulence. What the Navigator needed was a road trip, so I took two of them — within five days, over 900 miles and a grand total of 20 hours and 17 minutes in the 24-way power-adjustable, massaging, ventilated saddle. The first journey would be from Portland down to Bend, Ore., and then working my way gradually back through central Oregon backroads. This included winding two-lane highways where the Navigator's excellent adaptive cruise control system maintained its distance (and my sanity) when stuck behind parades of Outbacks, before the 450-horsepower EcoBoost V6 of Raptor fame could dispatch them from across the dotted yellow line. Enough really can't be said about how masterful this engine is — so smooth, so powerful and so quiet. It's perfect for a Lincoln. It also got 20 mpg over the course of the full 900 miles, which compares to the EPA's 21 mpg highway rating. Pretty good given the mountainous terrain and the liberal throttle applied to keep up with a pair of substantially sportier cars I was trailing as part of a photo shoot. Not that the Navigator was really able to keep up with anything once the road got tighter and twistier through the lava fields of the Willamette National Forest. Though I still concur with my initial praise of the Navigator's independent rear suspension and steering that "provides consistent, appropriate and reassuring weighting," there's no getting around the laws of physics. This is a gigantic land craft pushing three tons that's best kept at a relaxed pace – also perfect for a Lincoln. As for the ride, which disappointed during my Navigator first drive in Southern California, the "omnipresent nervousness" I reported didn't really materialize on better pavement in Oregon and later in Washington. True, it's not quite as supple as a unibody Range Rover or Mercedes GLS would be, but it doesn't suffer from the near constant vibration over even the smallest bumps you get in a Chevy Suburban or GMC Yukon XL. On the subject of comfort, though, those 24-way front seats can't be ignored.

2004 Lincoln Mark X concept car goes to auction

Twenty years ago, retro design was arguably at its apex (though it's really never gone away, either here or in other markets). And apparently Ford and Lincoln were considering a way to offer even more retro two-door goodness out of the Thunderbird, which was a couple years old in 2004. The result was the Lincoln Mark X concept car, which is pretty much a rebadged Thunderbird with a couple of unique features. It never went into production, but if you really had your heart set on it, this is your chance to make the sole example your own. At a glance, you might not notice the Thunderbird connection, especially with the top down. The Mark X leans heavily on the '60s Continentals with its wide chrome grille and subtle integrated headlights. It also features the distinct chrome trim that runs along each edge of the car from the headlights all the way back to the tailpipes. It also features slender, wide rear taillights, and a dramatically sloping rear fascia with a sharp edge where the tailpipes lurk. The Mark X also has the party piece of the then-trendy power retractable hardtop. It even had glass panels in the roof, kind of like the later VW Eos. But look a little longer, and you can see the similarities. The proportions, and especially the hardpoints around the doors and windshield, are pretty clearly straight off the Thunderbird. And as contemporary reporting showed, everything mechanical in the vehicle was the same as the Thunderbird, from the powertrain to the suspension. It gets the same 280-horsepower 3.9-liter V8 and five-speed automatic as the T-Bird, along with rear-wheel drive. The interior is much more of a departure from the T-Bird, though. It has the retro dual cowl dashboard that would later appear in other Lincoln products including the Zephyr, Navigator, Aviator and MKX. The MKX of course was actually a Ford Edge-derived, front-drive-based SUV, and so hardly related to this Mark X concept, but it did at least have a similar Continental-style grille when it launched. To a certain extent, it's a little bit surprising the Mark X didn't get a green light for production. Since all the mechanical bits were already in production, and not just in the Thunderbird. The platform, called DEW98, was a unique rear-drive platform with fully independent suspension that was used in the Ford Thunderbird, Lincoln LS sedan and Jaguars S-Type and XF. They all were offered with the same 3.9-liter V8, too, with V6 variants of the LS and Jaguars.

2024 Lincoln Navigator won't offer rear-wheel drive

Another Lincoln rear-wheel-drive trim bites the dust, following the course of the 2024 Lincoln Nautilus. When Cars Direct looked over an order guide for the 2024 Lincoln Navigator, the outlet discovered the omission of an RWD variant. The site inquired with Lincoln about the absence, anf the automaker responded, "24MY Navigator will be exclusively available as a 4x4." The relevant news for consumer wallets is that the change automatically raises the Navigator's base price by $3,000, the cost of adding four-wheel drive to the two trims that offer it, entry-level Premiere (currently called the Standard trim) and Reserve. The good news is that the order guide contained price data for the 2024 SUV, with Cars Direct saying the base Navigator MSRP is otherwise only going up $40. Early MSRP data for the 2024 model after the $1,895 destination charge, and the differences from 2023, shows: Premiere: $84,660 ($3,040) Reserve: $97,220 ($3,390)  Black Label: $112,646 ($1,495) Among the competitive set, the all-wheel drive 2024 Cadillac Escalade in base Luxury trim starts at $85,690, $1,030 more than the 2024 Navigator. The Cadillac's price gets pushed beyond the Navigator's by the $1,500 charge for three years of OnStar and Connected Services. Cadillac doesn't include this in the MSRP, instead listing the line in the Options section of the Summary page on the configurator; however, the "option" can't be removed. The 2023 Jeep Wagoneer Series III 4x4 — the top trim — starts at $77,200, the base trim of the 2023 Jeep Grand Wagoneer 4x4 starts at $92,945. The 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLS 450 starts at $82,950, the BMW X7 xDrive40i starts at $82,895.   According to Ford Authority, Lincoln's leaving the 2024 Navigator pretty much alone while the automaker prepares a refreshed 2025 model. For next year, Flight Blue returns to the color palette for the Standard and Reserve trims, displacing Ocean Blue. The most recent 2025 Navigator spy shots haven't revealed much of note, but it's clear it will carry design influences from the new Nautilus.